The Self-Control Irony: Desire for Self-Control Limits Exertion of Self-Control in Demanding Settings

Self-control is a highly adaptive human capacity. accordingly,development of self-control is widely encouraged. whereas the benefits of having self-control are well documented,little is known about the impact of wanting self-control. the present investigation fills this void by exploring the effect of desire for self-control on the ability to exert self-control. it was expected that in the context of demanding self-control challenges,a desire for self-control will highlight a discrepancy between one’s goals and perceived performance potential,leading to reduced efficacy beliefs and task disengagement. four studies (n = 635) supported the prediction. study 1 showed that a strong desire impaired performance on a demanding task but not on a simple task. study 2 conceptually replicated the decrement in performance and established causality by experimentally manipulating desire for self-control. studies 3 and 4 showed that reduction in efficacy beliefs mediate the effect. implications of the findings are discussed. © 2017,© 2017 by the society for personality and social psychology,inc.